Shiro Returns
by Cuthalion97
Summary: After the battle at Naxcella, the paladins discover the truth about Shiro's clone. . . I am updating this summary because the story should probably be labeled 'canon-divergent' now. :) Enjoy, and please review!
1. Chapter 1

"Attention, paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters. I know we've had our differences in the past, but –" Lotor's smirk was clearly audible – "I think it is time we had a discussion."

A solid two seconds of silence passed before the survivors of the Naxcella battle burst into uproar. The paladins listened for a moment to the startled voices overlapping on the radio.

"Uh – Allura," said Lance. "Did the gravity mess with my head, or –"

The princess' voice was a strange mixture of 'shaky' and 'icy' as she answered, "No, you heard correctly."

Everyone eventually stopped speaking, waiting for their leaders to make the next move. Lotor, as though he had been waiting for this, spoke again. "I place myself entirely at your mercy."

Allura drew herself upright. She was an Altean, after all; a race renowned for its diplomatic skills . . . And it would take all of the training and experience she had to reach any sort of resolution among the various sides – Lotor, Voltron, the rebels, and the Marmorans. It would all depend on her. She didn't know the rebels, and despite having grown to trust Kolivan, well – she somehow suspected that, despite his normally cool and calculating nature, he would be unable to deal with Lotor in a peacable fashion.

"We will meet with you aboard the Castle of Lions," she said, putting every ounce of her royal bearing into her voice. "Maintain your current position."

She switched to a different channel. "Kolivan. As soon as Coran arrives, you and your men will enter the main hangar."

On her screen, Kolivan gave her a long look – one clearly designed to remind her that she did not _command_ him in anything. He must not have had any better ideas, though, for at last he said, "Very well. I will appoint my men to act as security during this meeting."

"Thank you," she replied. "Matt?"

"Right here, princess!" he replied eagerly. "What do you want me to do?"

She raised an eyebrow. Matt certainly was willing when it came to . . . well, when it came to doing anything she asked. Lance and Pidge both snorted – Lance with annoyance and Pidge with amusement. Shiro cleared his throat.

Allura fought a smile and her voice showed only cool professionalism as she told Matt to bring the rebels on board. "And please escort your leaders to the bridge. Kolivan will assign the others to the positions he chooses."

"Sure thing!"

The Castle of Lions burst into view and slowed to an abrupt halt. Allura felt a surge of relief upon seeing it. The whole conflict on Naxcella had taken more out of her than she cared to admit, and she was greatly looking forward to getting into more comfortable clothes. The high gravity had forced the hard plates of armor against her skin, especially around her ribs, and she had more than a few bruises.

The other paladins must have been thinking along the same lines, because Hunk spoke on their private link. "Man, I'll be glad to get out of this armor."

"Not until the meeting's over," Shiro said. "Sorry, guys."

"Hey, don't worry," Lance said breezily. "We can take it!"

"Yeah, as long as the meeting's short," muttered Pidge. "Can't we just stick Lotor in a cell for a few hours?"

"I'm afraid not," Allura said. "It would show ill will on our part – and whether we like it or not, he very likely just saved our lives."

"Huh," Matt spoke up, on the comm he had linked to theirs. Allura watched his face on her screen as she entered Blue's hangar and landed. He looked almost angry, for some reason. "He definitely saved Keith's life."

"What?" Lance sounded a little surprised. "Yeah, hey – where is Keith? Did anyone hear from him?"

"He's landing in your hangar," Matt reported. "And no – he shut off his comms after Lotor's announcement."

"Keith? Keith?" said Pidge. The sound of clicking followed, and she spoke again. "He's not answering. What if he's hurt?"

"Lotor can wait a few minutes," Allura decided. "Get over to Red's hangar immediately!"

Keith landed his small, damaged fighter in front of Red and shut off the engine. Then he just sat in the cockpit, bent over and clasping his hands between his knees as he willed himself to stop shaking. He had fully expected to die, but somehow, in the heat of battle, that thought wasn't anywhere near as scary as it was now, after the fact.

After Lotor's announcement, when the battle was suddenly over and everyone safe, the realization had hit him with the suddenness of a laser bolt, and he'd quickly shut off his comms to keep the others from hearing his loud, quick breathing. One of the thoughts that kept running through his mind was that he hadn't said good-bye to the others.

Not that there had really been time, but still. . . What if he had died? What if he'd crashed into the shield? Even worse, what if his plan hadn't worked? He might have died for no reason at all . . . He and the others were only alive because Lotor had arrived in the nick of time.

The scenario played over and over in his head. If he had decided to attack the shield even two seconds sooner, he would now be dead, and the others would _still_ only be alive because of Lotor.

He hunched further into himself, breathing harder. He knew he was having a panic attack, but he couldn't stop it.

Someone pounded on the outside of his ship.

Keith reached for his bayard, but it wasn't there. He let out a short, sharp laugh. Of course he didn't have a bayard. He wasn't a paladin anymore. . .

Another hammering sound, and a babble of voices. Keith stared at Red, crouched majestically in front of him, and a feeling of intense longing washed through him. He wanted to fly her again.

Someone was cutting through the side of his ship now. _Oh, well,_ he thought lightheadedly. _It's pretty damaged already. Guess it doesn't matter.  
_  
Besides, this ship had never flown like Red. For some reason, right now, he really, really wanted to fly her. Or at least just sit in her cockpit, feeling the familiar controls and her purrs in the back of his mind.

A clang of metal sounded, and a rectangle of light fell across him. "Keith!"

He turned halfway, and Pidge – no, it was Matt – jumped into the cockpit. He looked _angry_. Keith blinked.

"Keith, you idiot!" Matt yelled. "You would have been killed!"

Keith just looked at him, unsure of what to say.

Matt stopped shouting and leaned over, helping Keith remove his safety harness. He pulled him to his feet and threw an arm around his shoulders.

"Let's get you out of here."

Keith stumbled and Matt began scolding him again in hushed undertones, even as he helped him towards the fighter's exit.

"Pidge would kill me if you died!" he said. "To say nothing of Hunk and Lance and – ohmigosh, _Shiro_."

Keith caught a quick glimpse of Lance, who was tapping his fingers against his leg, a tense expression on his face. The hangar doors slid open and, as though they had been summoned by Matt's words, the others rushed in. The next few seconds were a blur of color and motion as everyone surrounded Matt and Keith.

"Keith, you all right, buddy?" Hunk asked, brows furrowed.

"Did he hit his head?" Pidge demanded, leaning closer.

"What happened?" Shiro put a tentative hand on Keith's shoulder, and the former red paladin just stared at it. There it was again – that strange, all-too-familiar feeling that something was off about Shiro. Something felt _wrong_.

"He doesn't look injured," Hunk reported to Allura, who was hovering nearby.

"Maybe he has a concussion," said Pidge, standing on her toes to reach Keith's head. "But there's no evidence of an injury."

Matt tried to interrupt. "Guys –"

"Let's get him to the medbay," said Shiro.

Keith wanted to shake his head; wanted to tell them everything was fine. And he really wanted to ask them to leave him alone.

Surprisingly enough, it was Lance – silent up until now – who broke through the confused babble of voices.

"Guys, stop," he said, reaching a long arm through the group and pulling Keith out. "He might be in shock."

 _I'm not_ , thought Keith, but as soon as Matt let go of him, he staggered and almost fell. Okay, maybe he was in mild shock. A little.

"What happened?" Shiro asked again, turning to Matt with a worried frown.

Matt sighed. "When we realized we couldn't destroy Haggar's shields with our weapons, he decided to use his ship. He was literally just about to ram it when Lotor arrived."

Everyone froze where they were. In some part of his mind, Keith found this highly amusing, but the rest of him just waited to see what they would do.

"You – you absolute _jerk_ ," said Pidge, ripping her helmet off and flinging it aside. She threw her arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could – which, despite the hours of training she had done, still wasn't all that hard. "You could have died, and we wouldn't have known."

A loud sob followed her outburst, and Keith gave her head an awkward pat, not really sure of what to do.

Hunk sniffed. His hug was hard – a _lot_ harder than Pidge's. He actually lifted the red and green paladins off the ground, and Keith was just about to tell Hunk he couldn't breathe when the yellow paladin set them down.

"You've gotta stop doing things like that," Hunk begged. "Are you okay?"

Keith cleared his throat and rasped out, "Yeah."

Pidge wiped her eyes against Keith's sleeve and stepped back, giving him a critical look. "Don't believe him, Hunk," she said, joining her brother, who pulled her into a one-armed hug.

Allura stepped forward next, her mouth set in a firm line. Keith almost took a step back – he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed – but she only put a hand on his arm and gave him a quick smile. "Thank you," she said softly. "But, please, never do that again."

He nodded once and half-turned towards the hangar door, automatically casting a glance at Shiro. He hesitated. The older paladin was watching him with a strange expression; he didn't look angry or worried, but hurt, somehow. While his face remained immobile, the look in his eyes indicated that he was in pain – maybe he was having a flashback? But he wasn't injured. Keith waited.

A couple seconds later, Shiro gave his head a quick shake and strode over, resting a hand briefly on Keith's shoulder. "I have to help the others," he said, a bit reluctantly, then gave him a little smile. "Get some rest." He turned to leave and nearly ran into Lance, who was still hovering at Keith's elbow.

"I'll take him to medbay," Lance said.

Shiro nodded. He and the others left, with many backward glances, and Keith finally relaxed, if only a little. He was still shaking, and wanted to tell Lance to go with the others . . . not that Lance would listen.

He tried anyway. "I'm fine," he declared, stumbling a little.

Lance steadied him and said, "You're going to the medbay whether you like it or not, Mullet."

"I'm _fine_ , Lance."

The blue paladin replied in a high, sing-song tone. "I'm not listening." He moved towards the hangar door, still keeping a tight grip on Keith's arm. "I mean, your definition of 'fine' is 'I'm not dead', so . . ."

Keith tried to come up with a retort, but his mind was too empty at the moment. He sighed instead, looking up at his lion . . . _No,_ he reminded himself. _My former lion . . . And why am I being so negative? It_ was _my choice to leave Voltron._

"Red misses you," said Lance casually. "She's complaining about how you're not paying attention to her. Can't you hear her?"

"I – she _said_ that?" Keith asked.

Lance rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. She's griping about how much you want to fly her again, but you can't sense her trying to communicate with you."

Keith stared at Red. "Sorry," he muttered, trying to concentrate. Her eyes flared gold for a moment, and a picture of Voltron appeared in his mind. The giant robot separated into five lions, and they flew in formation. Somehow he could tell that Allura was not among the paladins. Red wanted things as they had been before Shiro disappeared.

"Me, too," he said aloud. He could tell by the look on Lance's face that he was seeing Red's thoughts as well. There was a blur of images from several of the lions at once; they seemed to be agreeing on something.

"Yep, Red wants you back," said Lance again. "And it looks like Blue wants me back –"  
He stopped short, staring at Keith. For some reason, they could sense three lions, separately, in their heads. Red, Blue –

"– And Black . . .?" said Lance. "I've never – We've never – What does he mean, he wants his old paladin back?"

"He doesn't mean me," said Keith grimly.

"But . . . but . . . He can't mean _Zarkon._ "

A flash of denial from Black, along with an odd sense of guilt. Keith felt as though his stomach had dropped out. The empty feeling in its place was all too familiar – _The mysterious crash on Kerberos – The months in the desert – The aftermath of the battle with Zarkon –_

And, he realized with a flash of insight, most of the times that he'd interacted with Shiro since they'd found him drifting in space.

Lance looked ready to cry. "He's – he's not Shiro," he murmured.

"We didn't find him," Keith said, his voice sounding oddly distant. The realization, coming on top of his recent experience, was too much; his knees gave out and he sat down suddenly. "That's why – I _knew_ something was off."

Lance slumped beside him. "Where is he? Where's _our_ Shiro? And who's the other one?"

Keith sucked in a deep breath and stared up at Red. "That's what we're going to find out," he said, anger surging through his despair.

Lance pulled him to his feet, but a sudden image came from Black, so strong that it almost replaced the actual scene in front of them.

"He – he doesn't know that he's a clone," Lance said softly. "He really thinks he's Shiro."

Keith covered his eyes with one hand. "What do we do now?" he muttered, fighting a strong desire to yell at the top of his lungs. "Walk up and say, 'Hey, Shiro, we just found out that you're not actually Shiro'?"

Lance leaned over and pulled at his arm, forcing him to look up. "We'll figure it out . . . but first, we're getting you to medbay. Come on."

"I'm fine." Keith actually growled, jerking his arm out of Lance's grip, despite the fact that he was still stumbling. "We have to find out about Shiro!"

He moved stubbornly towards the elevator leading to the bridge, but Lance shook his head patiently and pulled him towards the other door. "Nah-ah. Shiro – I mean, the other Shiro – is busy with Allura. We'll deal with this when there aren't so many people on board. Especially not the Blades – no offense, but . . ."

Lance continued chattering on, and Keith, after considering his words, decided that it would be best to wait until everyone had left. Kolivan and the other Marmorans would most likely view 'clone Shiro' as a threat who had been privy to all of their plans since his rescue.

Later, then.

Unfortunately, the moment he made this decision, his adrenaline rush faded away and he was left feeling worse than ever. He swayed and walked into the wall, his head pounding as the shaky feeling returned.

Lance paused and made him sit down. "Head between your knees," he ordered in a tone that allowed for no arguments.

Keith must have blacked out, because the next thing he knew, Hunk was carrying him through the medbay doors and placing him on one of the cots. "Hey, you're awake," he said, sounding relieved. "Drink this down, okay? It's an energy drink; I put stuff in it that'll make you feel better, at least it should – Wait, you're not still dizzy, are you?"

He squatted down so that he was on Keith's level, then tilted his head sideways to peer into his face. "If you're still dizzy, it might make you sick to your stomach . . ."

"I'm good," muttered Keith, taking a sip. The drink was cool and fruity and surprisingly refreshing. His head cleared almost right away, and he gave Hunk a small smile. "Thanks."

Hunk did not smile back, and Keith hesitated. "What's wrong?"

The yellow paladin sat down on the cot beside him. "I just – Lance told me what was going on." He gave a heavy sigh. "I'm worried. About Shiro. And you."

Keith did not reply, but stared down into his glass, swirling the orange-yellow drink around and around. A few drops sloshed onto his hand, and he gazed at them for a long moment.

Hunk sighed again and toyed with the edge of a nearby blanket. "I was gonna go back to the others, but I don't think I can look at Shir– I mean, the _other_ Shiro right now."

 _No kidding._ "Where's Lance?"

"He let me stay here, and he went back to the bridge. Uh, and he said you weren't allowed to get up until you felt normal again."

"Yeah, well, he's not in charge," said Keith, getting up.

Hunk readjusted his headband, watching as Keith stood, lost his balance, and fell. "But maybe he's right anyway? And it's not like there's anything you need to be doing right now."

"Lotor's on the ship. He wants something."

"'Course he does," Hunk said, pushing Keith back easily. "And we have at least fifty other people on board right now, watching him."

"I can't sleep."

Hunk walked over to one of the many supply drawers and pulled out a small vial. "Take one of these. It'll make you fall asleep."

Keith considered this for a long moment. Only the fact that he was completely exhausted finally decided him. "Okay," he said. "But if anything comes up, you'll call me, right?"

"Sure I will." Hunk sounded far too complacent.

Keith narrowed his eyes suspiciously. " _Right?_ "

"Uh, yeah."


	2. Chapter 2

Four vargas later, the paladins – with the exception of Keith, who was still sleeping – were gathered in the lounge, slouched in various semi-relaxed positions on the long couches. Lance was watching 'Shiro' through partially closed eyes, filing away the tiny differences in the black paladin's bearing and mannerisms. He had noticed them before, of course, but he and the others had just assumed that this was a result of Shiro's second captivity and that they would go away with time. Hunk was guiltily wondering if he should have woken Keith – did Lotor's leaving the ship count as something happening or not? Keith would probably get mad at him, but, oh well. He guessed he'd deal with it later. . .

Just then, Allura entered the room, pushing back her bushy hair from her face. Everyone got to their feet, stretching and trying to hide yawns. Except for Shiro, of course, who stood erect and alert. Lance guessed that some things were definitely the same about Shiro . . . 'Shiro'. . . Maybe he should call him 'Clone'. No, that didn't sound right. His musing was interrupted by Allura's voice.

"Kolivan and the other Blades are escorting Lotor to a nearby planet. The rebels will follow, and then we'll join them to continue the meeting."

"Oh, joy," groused Pidge. "Do we _have_ to be there?"

"Having the paladins of Voltron present is certainly a good idea," said Allura thoughtfully. "Is there something else you need to be doing?"

Her expression indicated that she knew perfectly well that the paladins had nothing else to do at the moment. Pidge frowned, and Lance slid down the back of the couch until his legs stuck out straight in front of him, barely holding himself upright. "But it's boooooring," he moaned.

Shiro raised an eyebrow at him.

Hunk gave a tired sigh as he leaned against the couch, accidentally dislodging Lance, who flopped onto the ground and lay motionless. "Ow," he announced. "Seriously, Allura, there must be someone else for us to save, or a planet to liberate or something."

Coran strutted into the room, hands clasped behind his back. "Actually, you're in a bit of luck there," he said.

The general atmosphere became more enlivened. Everyone straightened a bit and gave Coran their full attention. Lance rolled onto his stomach and propped his chin on his hands, his already tufted hair sticking up more than usual.

Allura moved to her advisor's side, peering over his shoulder at the datapad he held. "What is it, Coran?"  
"The castle picked up a distress signal from the planet Lycaa during the meeting – it was only sent out a few vargas ago. I asked what their situation was and a reply just came in from one of the smaller cities. Anyway –"

He clicked a few buttons on his datapad, cleared his throat, and read, "The Galra have landed hundreds of troops in our capital cities and captured nearly all of our political leaders. Our leaders are being held on the main battlecruiser of the Galran fleet, and will be returned only once our planet has surrendered unconditionally to Galran rule. If any armed resistance is offered, our leaders will be put to death."  
"Okay," said Pidge. "So, basically, typical Galran strong-arm methods."

"We can't free their planet until we rescue their leaders," said Shiro.

"Exactly," Coran agreed. "Also, it looks like we have to act within the next twelve vargas – they were given one planetary rotation to surrender, and Lycaa has only twenty vargas per rotation . . ." His voice trailed off and he began counting on his fingers.

Allura held her hand up so the two small mice could crawl down from her shoulder. "I don't know," she said, sounding troubled. "I really must meet with the others. Lotor has offered us some valuable information already, and if he comes to an alliance with us, he will give us the locations to all their bases as well as the key to every code and frequency they use. But he won't talk at all if I'm not there."

"He wants something from Voltron in particular, doesn't he?" said Pidge.

"I'm afraid so."

Hunk frowned. "But – why can't the rest of us go help those Lycaa-people?"

"Lycaans," Coran corrected him.

"Yeah, them."

"You could," said Allura. "But what if you need to form Voltron?"

"Hey," said Lance, getting back onto the couch. "Keith's at the castle, isn't he? He can fly Red and I'll fly Blue."

Everyone hesitated, and then Pidge's face broke out in a slow smile. "Yeah!"

"Awesome!" said Hunk, pumping his fist. He paused, casting a guilty look at Allura. "Uh, sorry, princess."

She, however, was smiling. "No, I think it's a marvelous idea. Besides, the blue lion only chose me because Shiro disappeared in the first place. . . And then Keith left."

Shiro hesitated. "Do you think he'll want to – come back?"

"Totally," said Lance, grinning. "Red wants him back, so he'll come. At least for this mission, and then we can gradually argue him down until he stays on the team for good. I mean, he's gotten plenty of Blades training by now, hasn't he?"

"Kolivan might not be happy," Allura said thoughtfully.

Lance waved a dismissive hand. "He never is."

To his surprise, the princess laughed, quickly stifling the noise behind one hand. "It does seem that way."

Coran had apparently finished calculating, because he straightened and tucked away his datapad with a flourish. "You'll have to get some rest while you can, because I'm starting the wormhole jump in three vargas. Off you go, now!"

He waved his hands at them, shooing them from the room, and the paladins all wandered towards their rooms. Lance waited until Shiro was in his room, then waved to get Pidge and Hunk's attention. "Let's go fill Keith in," he said. "Oh, and Pidge – there's something we need to tell you."

The four youngest paladins sat around in Keith's room – Pidge and Hunk slouching on the bed and Lance leaning against the wall while Keith paced back and forth, one hand buried in his hair as he told Pidge about what he and Lance had discovered.

Pidge's mouth was half-open as her eyes followed him. "But the other Shiro doesn't know he's a clone?"  
"Guess not."

"Okay, guys, what'do we do?" Hunk looked from one to the other as though desperate for ideas. "Where's the real Shiro?"

Keith fiddled with his knife, turning it over and over in his hands. "I could talk to Black," he said slowly. "She might know . . . but – if she knew Shiro was a clone all this time, why didn't she tell us before? She didn't let him fly her until you guys really needed help."

Lance shook his head. "No idea."

"Maybe she didn't remember," Pidge suggested. "Zarkon was trying to control her at the time, right? Maybe when Shiro's clone showed up, Black knew something was wrong, but didn't quite know what . . .?" She let out her breath with a huff, blowing a few loose strands of hair from her face. "I just don't have enough data to form a hypothesis."

"We could talk to the clone," said Lance. "He might have some memories that could help us."

Hunk shook his head. "I asked him before. He mostly just remembers purple light and a few voices.  
Nothing specific."

"So he could be anywhere." Lance slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "We _have_ to find him!"

Keith gave a humorless laugh. "You think?"

"Should we tell Coran and Allura?" Pidge asked.

Everyone considered this for a moment, then shook their heads as one. "Not until after the meeting, anyway," said Lance.

"Yeah; no distractions while they're dealing with Lotor would be good," Hunk added, getting to his feet. "And I don't know about you guys, but I'm bushed. I'm gonna hit the hay."

The expression on Keith's face went from worried to disbelieving. "How can you even think of sleeping at a time like this?"

"Hey," said Hunk, a little defensively. "Whatever ends up happening, we'll deal with it better if we're well-rested, right?"

"Yeah," said Lance. "We haven't stopped since that battle on Naxcella."

"Right," Keith said. "Sorry. . . I'll talk to Black."

"Let me know what you find out," said Pidge. "I'll grab my computer and –"

"No you won't," said Keith, assuming his 'leader' voice. "Get some rest."

She grumbled, but obeyed when faced with the fact that she would be of absolutely no use if she fell asleep during the mission. 

They reconvened in Red's hangar a few doboshes before the wormhole jump. The clone was still in his – no, Shiro's – room. Lance shifted impatiently from one foot to the other, waiting for Keith to get his act together and start talking. The red paladin just stood there, frowning at the ground. Hunk cleared his throat. Keith still didn't move.

"Uh – Keith?" Pidge asked, adjusting her glasses. "Did Black –?"

She let her voice die away, and Keith finally looked at her. "She's as confused as the rest of us," he said. "She showed me what happened during that battle with Zarkon. Shiro used his bayard –"

They nodded, remembering, and Lance said, "Yeah, 'cause Black got those cool wings."

"Right. Uh, so you know how each of our lions has a special ability?"

"Yeah . . .?"

"Well, Black's is teleportation. At the end, when Zarkon was sending that quintessence through Voltron . . . Black knew it would kill Shiro, so she teleported him to safety. She was going to send him to my lion, only – Zarkon tried to make her transport him into space at the same time." He rubbed at the back of his head, scowling worse than ever. "She knows he ended up somewhere safe, but she has no idea where that was."

"But I scanned for his biosignature _everywhere_ ," said Pidge. "I even relayed it to our allies. And if he's somewhere safe, that means he's not on any of the Galra-controlled planets."

"I don't think he's in a physical location," Keith said slowly. "I got the idea that she sent him to some sort of mindscape. . . Which would explain why she couldn't find him afterwards."

Lance groaned, his shoulders drooping. "How will we find him, then?"

They all stared at each other hopelessly for a long moment. Pidge's eyes flicked back and forth between the others, her mind coming up with and discarding idea after idea.

Then, so suddenly that everyone else jumped a little, she stamped one foot and clasped both hands to her head. "Ugh – I don't know what to do! I don't know how a mindscape even _works_!"

"Let's just . . . concentrate on this mission first," said Keith after a moment.

"Yeah," sighed Lance.

The ship gave a faint jerk as it entered the wormhole. Lance, Hunk and Pidge left the hangar without a word, each heading towards their lions. Keith watched them leave. His face grew hard with resolve, and he placed a hand on Red's nose, stroking it. "We'll find him, girl."


	3. Chapter 3

"How should we complete this mission?" asked Shiro, staring at the holographic display in the center of the bridge. "It looks like they've pretty well surrounded the planet."

"That they have," Coran acknowledged. "And if you attack outright, the hostages will be killed. Also, Lycaa received a new ultimatum. If they haven't surrendered within the next eight vargas, their planet will be bombarded. They don't have the technology for proper shielding yet, so allowing the Galra ships to get within firing range is absolutely out of the question."

"So . . ." said Lance, looking concerned. "Is our only option to choose between rescuing the hostages and rescuing everyone else on the planet?"

"No!" exclaimed Pidge. "We can't do that."

Allura spoke up. "Apart from anything else, if we rescue Lycaa at the cost of the hostages' lives, the planet will be thrown into chaos – everyone disagreeing on the old leaders' successors . . . It could turn into civil war. I've seen it happen more than once." She shook her head and added, "The Galra made a clever move."

"And we have to outwit them," said Shiro firmly. "There's always a way."

"The prisoners are being held on the main cruiser, right?" asked Keith. "If we could sneak a couple of people in, we could rescue them and –"

Hunk interrupted. "Won't their sensors pick you up?"

"Not if we're in Green," Pidge grinned, looking suddenly more alive.

"You can't fit all the hostages in one lion," said Coran. "There are quite a few of them – twenty-six, to be exact."

"If they stand, we can fit that many in Green and Black," said Shiro. "How long until you have to meet the others, Allura?"

"Two and a half vargas."

"Good. Stay just outside of sensor range, and we'll fly the prisoners to the ship." He pointed at the hologram. "Then we can attack the main fleet and destroy them before they get in range of the planet."

"Hmm," said Coran, stroking his chin critically. "I don't know about that, Number One – it's an awfully risky plan."

"It'll work," said Lance confidently, rocking back on his heels. "Besides, there's only –" He leaned over the display and counted rapidly to himself – "twelve cruisers there. We've dealt with more."

Allura gave a decisive nod. "It does seem to be our only option. Does everyone agree?"

"Sounds good," said Keith, and Pidge nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, what can go wrong?" asked Hunk in a cheerful voice. "Let's go save some hostages!"

As soon as the five lions flew from their hangars, Coran spoke over the comms. "Paladins, might I suggest that you practice forming Voltron while we're still at a safe distance? It's been awhile."

"Good idea," said Shiro.

Despite the fact that the black paladin was not the 'real' Shiro, Lance felt a faint thrill of familiarity as they formed Voltron – he was back in Blue, who was so much easier to fly than Red . . .! Red gave a faint grumble in the back of his mind, and he thought a quick apology towards her, but they were both aware that neither of them really meant it.

After all, Red _was_ harder to fly than Blue; and Red seemed to have formed the opinion – somehow – that Lance was a worse pilot than Keith. Blue purred, pleased to have her own paladin back; Pidge and Hunk seemed mildly amused at the quick argument; Shiro smiled faintly; Keith was mentally agreeing with both Red and Lance, which the blue paladin found highly annoying.

"Hey!" he protested aloud. "I'm a great pilot!"

"Yeah," said Keith. "You can fly well when you're in Blue, but only _because_ she's easy to fly."

Lance fumbled for a response, but Shiro interrupted. "All right, concentrate on the mission, guys!"

Coran spoke again. "We'll wait here for you. Lance, Hunk, Keith – stay back until you're needed."

Voltron disbanded, and the five lions hovered a far distance away from the fleet of Galran ships that blockaded Lycaa. The planet looked to be the size of a quarter from this distance – an iridescent, purple quarter. Lance wondered briefly if the Galra were trying to conquer it because of its glowing violet color; they certainly seemed addicted to purple lights.

Especially the druids. Weirdos.

"We're heading out," said Shiro.

"Good luck, you guys," said Lance. "Pidge, don't get distracted by any computer stuff."

She sniffed, but did not deign to answer. The two lions flew off, and the others returned to studying the planet.

"Wow," said Hunk, his voice appreciative. "Wonder what it looks like _on_ the planet itself. Bet it's neat."

"Actually," Coran replied, cheerful as ever, "the purple color comes from the poisonous atmosphere. It's fatal to humans, so you'd die within thirty ticks of landing there!"

"Thanks, Coran," Hunk said. "Hey, if it's poisonous to us, isn't regular air poisonous to the Lycaan guys?"

"Hmm . . . Umm . . ." He was, apparently, running a computer search; the beeping and clicking sounded clearly through their comms. At last he said, "It looks like they have two 'sets' of lungs. Their planet is only noxious for half an orbit around its sun. When its on the far side, it's almost like Altea! Falling rocks and everything!"

He sounded much too gleeful for Lance's comfort. The blue paladin made a mental note to _not_ let Coran talk him into visiting Lycaa, ever.

"That's – great," said Hunk, his enthusiasm for the planet taking a nosedive.

"Guys, keep the chatter down," ordered Keith.

Lance rolled his eyes once, just to alleviate his feelings, but realized that Keith had a point. After another five minutes of silence, broken only by static and the occasional whispered command from Shiro – so soft that the words couldn't be made out – he began to amuse himself by staring at Blue's ceiling.

That grew old really fast.

He was relieved when Pidge's voice crackled in his helmet. "Guys, we found the prisoners. They were all in one cell – can you believe it?"

"Yes," said Keith. "Are you getting them out?"

"They're boarding the lions as we speak."

"Any trouble?" asked Hunk.

"Nope. Only a few droids. Guess they weren't expecting a rescue attempt."

"Guess not," agreed Keith. "Let us know when you're ready."

"They're sending fighters out," Allura broke in. "Shiro?"

"All set," he replied. "We're leaving the hangar now. Hunk, cover us. Keith, Lance, engage those fighters."

"Got it!"

They burst into action. The red and blue lions swooped through the oncoming fighters, leaving miniature explosions in their wake. Lance destroyed two with one shot and let out a yell of triumph.

"Beat that, Keith!"

So, of course, Keith took out three with one shot. Lance wasted a fair amount of time trying to line up four droids for a perfect shot; as a result, Pidge, Hunk and Shiro delivered the prisoners to the castle, waited while Allura created a wormhole and left, and returned to the others before all the fighters were destroyed.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Pidge. "There were only twenty of them!"

"Yeah, well," muttered Keith, putting the red lion into a hard turn that brought it behind another fighter.

"We were – busy," said Lance. "With other stuff."

Pidge snorted. "Yeah, like arguing."

"Hey!" Lance said defensively. "It's been a while since we got to argue over who was better at fighting."

He paused, considering his statement. "I mean, over who was a better warrior. We're both good at fighting. With each other." He jerked at the levers suddenly, and Blue's jaw clamped over the last fighter.

"Yeah," said Hunk. "Because you just finished arguing over who was a better pilot, like, ten minutes ago."

"Whatever," said Lance.

"Why is that so important, anyway?" grumbled Keith. "You act like everything is a contest."

"Well, it kind of is. Anyway . . ."

Shiro may not have been Shiro, but his long-suffering sigh sounded _exactly_ the same. "Maybe if you weren't arguing you'd have noticed that the cruisers just set a course for Lycaa."

There was a brief moment of sheepish silence.

"Right," said Keith. "Form Voltron?"

"Yeah!" cheered everyone, more from habit than anything else. 

Haggar lifted her head sharply, smirking so that the red tattoos on her face lifted slightly. "My lord," she said. "Voltron has entered the trap. The paladins are attacking."

Zarkon rose from his throne and stalked towards the platform, which was already surrounded by druids. "Prepare the ship for battle," he said, his deep voice soft but filled with a barely contained excitement. "Reinforce the fleet at Lycaa."

He tilted his head to glance at Haggar, who moved silently beside him. "Are you certain this will work?"

"The clone has no idea who he is," she replied, her tone smug and as smooth as a cat's. "His mind belongs to me. Our plan cannot fail."

The emperor smirked, ever so faintly, his huge fists clenching. "Then we will retake Voltron, once and for all!" 

Only four cruisers were left now, still heading at full speed towards Lycaa's atmosphere. Voltron, sword formed and ready, streaked straight at them and attacked.

"Uh – why are they just letting us attack?" demanded Pidge, staring in disbelief as the cruisers just stood there and took it. The other ships had at least put up some form of resistance, but these ships weren't even firing their small cannons.

Voltron hovered in mid-air, hesitating, as Shiro pulled Black to a halt. "Maybe they want to surrender . . .?"

"Uh, 'victory or death' is kind of their motto," said Lance.

Hunk tilted his head. "Maybe they're cowardly Galra. . .?"

"But _four_ ships, all at once?" asked Pidge.

Keith's suspicion could be clearly felt through their bond. "More likely, they're trying to trick us into thinking they'll surrender."  
"You're probably right," Shiro agreed. "But I still don't like attacking when they're not defending."

"They're almost within range of Lycaa," warned Pidge.

Shiro made up his mind, and the others reacted as one, feeling his decision in their minds. Voltron streaked past the advancing ships and took up a position between them and the planet. Hunk formed the shoulder cannon, aiming it at them.

Still the ships advanced, inexorable and silent.

Hunk fired. Explosions flared all along one side of the leftmost cruiser, and it listed heavily, drifting apart from the others.

"I opened a frequency to their ships," Pidge called. "I'm patching it through to you, Shiro."

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Shiro spoke. "This is your last warning, Galra. Surrender or be destroyed."

A harsh laugh sounded through the paladins' helmets. "Victory or death, Voltron. . . And this time, we have the victory!"

As he spoke a Galran super-cruiser burst into sight, and the remaining three cruisers veered off and fired with everything they had.  
Pidge formed the shield without a second's hesitation, but Voltron was still sent reeling backwards.

"They were waiting for a _super-cruiser_?" yelped Lance. "We've taken down tons of those! Literally!"

"Form sword," ordered Shiro. "Take out the cruisers first."

"Shiro –" said Keith, then stopped.

An odd feeling swept through the four youngest members of Voltron. They knew, without saying a word, that they were thinking the same thing – something was wrong, and it had to do with the 'Shiro' in Black . . . And they knew that he had felt their uncertainty.  
"Guys, what –?" he began, sounding alarmed.

Lance acted on impulse, firing his Lion's thrusters and moving Voltron forward. "Destroy Galra first, talk later," he suggested.  
"Good idea," Hunk agreed, firing his own thrusters.

The others were forced to move in order to maintain their balance, and they moved halfway to the super-cruiser before Shiro spoke again.

"Is something . . . wrong?"

"We'll tell you after, promise," said Pidge, voice tense.

Red flickered a warning into Keith's mind, sent from Black, and he gasped, pulling back from the super-cruiser. "Guys, Zarkon's on that –"

"Something's wrong!" shouted Shiro. "I can't . . ."

His voice faded into silence, almost as though he had simply been distracted by a thought, and then Voltron burst apart, flinging four of the lions in various directions. They recovered quickly and converged on Black, shouting questions at Shiro – clone-Shiro – whoever it was.

"What's wrong?" yelled Pidge. "Shiro, can you hear me?"

"He's not responding," Keith said, the sinking, empty feeling back in his stomach. "Everyone, grab onto Black and –"

"Wait – I'm here," said Shiro, sounding drained and exhausted for some reason. "Zarkon took over for a second, but –" He hesitated. "Let's form Voltron. I'll be able to resist him more easily with your help."

Keith felt that something was off, although he couldn't place it. He hesitated, but finally decided it must be the whole Shiro-not-Shiro situation that was bothering him, and he moved to join the others.

Again he formed the sword. For a moment, he was so focused on what he was doing that the sudden alarm from the other paladins only half-registered. Then he was brought back to himself by the jarring feeling of near-panic from Pidge.

"Shiro! What are you _doing_?" she shrieked. "That's a tractor beam!"

Keith could only stare as Voltron was forcibly pulled to a halt. It was a tractor beam, all right, and it was larger than any he'd ever seen before. He and Lance fired their lions' engines at the same time, throwing Voltron to one side, but before they had made it more than a few feet, the bond between the Paladins suddenly surged and tore apart for the second time in as many minutes.

"Guys, Shiro just separated us!" Hunk cried, frantically pulling on his controls in an effort to escape the beam.

"I – can't – move!" yelped Pidge. "Whaddo we do?"

"Shiro! Shiro, what's going on?" Lance yelled.

The black paladin's face appeared on their screen, his eyes dull and unresponsive. "I – I . . ."

The screen flickered off. "Shiro, come on!" Hunk said pleadingly.

"We have to form Voltron!" yelled Keith. "Shiro! We're gonna get pulled into the Galra ship!"

Lance yelped. "We're getting pulled into the Galra ship!"

The paladins could only watch helplessly as the hangar doors opened before them and the lions moved into the vast room, landing gently despite the fact that their engines were straining in the opposite huge doors slid shut, and the tractor beam shut off.


	4. Chapter 4

At first Keith wondered why the beam didn't stay on; the lions could break through the door easily enough, after all – but then he realized that the lions, lined up side by side, barely fit in the hangar as it was. There was no room for maneuvering. None of them could turn more than twenty degrees without hitting each other.

"Everyone stay in your lions," Keith ordered. "I'm going to check on – Shiro."

Lance shook his head. "Keith, no. Zarkon's probably on his way now. You don't want to get caught outside Red with him around."  
Keith hesitated, unable to deny the common sense in that statement. "Pidge, can you contact the castle?"

Pidge shook her head with an annoyed growl. "I've been trying, but the frequencies are jammed tighter than – than . . ."

"A can of sardines," Hunk finished helpfully.

"Yes. Thank you, Hunk." Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Sure, no problem." Hunk fiddled with his armor and looked around. "So, uh, what do we do now?"

"Shiro? Shiro, can you hear me?" Lance slumped back. "Guys, he's not responding at all."

Pidge cleared her screens with an exasperated flick and folded her arms stubbornly. "We're not just waiting for Zarkon to show up, are we?"

"Everyone stay where you are," Keith repeated, clenching the back of his seat so tightly that he left fingermarks in the soft material. "And . . . uh, we should all relax."

Lance gave him a deliberately pointed look. Keith frowned a bit, releasing the cushion with an effort. He drew his Marmoran blade and fidgeted with it, tapping it against one armored sleeve.

"I don't think we'll be waiting long," Pidge said, summoning her bayard. 

Haggar called the quintessence to action, smiling as the spell crept through her project's mind. She felt Voltron's energy falter, then disband. Her own vision drifted and faded momentarily, then regathered itself until she was seeing through the clone's eyes.

He was trying to speak, but she cut him off with a thought and watched as the five lions landed side by side in the hangar. His mind fought against hers, struggling to – she concentrated, then sneered. Oh, he was trying to warn the others that she was here. How . . . pathetic.

The clone fought to open his mouth, reach for a control, anything. Haggar held him at a distance with contemptuous ease, but when he reached out to his bond with the black lion, she snarled and took over his mind completely. He was a bit more willing to fight than she had anticipated, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

"My lord," she said to Zarkon, who stood waiting beside her. "The Black Lion's paladin is under my control."

Zarkon clenched his huge fists and signalled to the druids that surrounded him. They raised their hands, sending quintessence into him; he opened his mind to the black lion, forcing his bond with it as he had done earlier, when Champion had dared to steal the black bayard.

The rage he had felt at that moment filled him again, and he bent his head, growling. His purple eyes narrowed. He could almost sense Champion; but surely that was impossible. It must be the clone. . .

A flicker of – something – passed through the black lion, and he snarled, bending his will harder, intent on subduing it. The lion was resisting him. He _would_ take over, he _would_ control it as he had of old . . .

Haggar's startled gasp broke through his concentration.

"My – my lord," she said. "Champion!"

Zarkon raised one hand, and the druids stopped. He turned to face Haggar, towering over her; she seemed too surprised to notice, however. "Champion has somehow appeared in the black lion," she said.

The emperor swung around and headed for the hangar, anger broiling deep in his chest. Champion would not steal Voltron from him again. He had done so too many times. When Zarkon had finally revived after his near-fatal battle with Voltron, he had been pleasantly surprised to find that the black paladin had disappeared, but now? Champion _would_ appear at the most inconvenient moment possible.

At the emperor's signal, the druids and several officers joined him. Haggar, standing behind the others, lifted her hands to release the magical seal on the inner hangar door.

"They are all in their lions, my lord," she declared.

Zarkon smiled. Fools. As if that would keep him from getting at them. He twitched his cloak back and lifted both hands. Again the druids supplied him with quintessence, and he waited, ready to perform his magic. 

Keith gripped his knife tightly as a door in the wall opposite him opened, revealing druids, Galran officers – and Haggar and Zarkon. He heard Pidge's quick intake of breath, Hunk's frightened gasp, and Lance's annoyed groan. Shiro – clone Shiro – didn't make a sound.

Zarkon gazed up at the lions, smirking openly, and spoke a single word in his deep voice. "Surrender."

"Never!" yelled Pidge. Keith glanced at his screen and caught sight of her standing with fists clenched, mouth drawn in an angry frown. "We beat you before, _emperor_ –"

"Yeah, we did," Hunk agreed firmly.

"And we'll do it again. _Gladly,_ " Lance added, his tone unusually serious.

Keith fingered his knife, hesitating. He wished Shiro would answer the emperor or say something – anything – but he did not. The red paladin took a deep breath and looked back at Zarkon, who seemed to be waiting to hear from the leader of Voltron.

Well, Keith _had_ been Voltron's leader, so – "We won't surrender."

"Oh?" The emperor folded his arms, seeming somehow amused. "Your spirit is worthy of the paladins of old. But surely . . ." His purple eyes glinted. "Surely there is something you value more than being paladins . . . Or do you really wish to stop me so much?"  
Pidge's voice was incredulous as she replied. "You've caused the death of millions, just to increase your own power."

Hunk raised his hand as though he was in class. "Uh, not to mention trying to kill us at least five dozen times."

Zarkon inclined his head in acknowledgement, smirking a little. "You did inconvenience me. But now I have you at my mercy, and I am prepared to grant you your freedom. _If_ you surrender the lions willingly."

"What?" squawked Pidge.

Lance snorted. "Not likely, Your Evilness."

Zarkon actually let out a growling sigh. "Enough insolence from you, young one. Do you fear me so little?"

Lance hummed in a high falsetto and sang something weird and irrelevant about a . . . purple people-eater? What the heck was that?

Keith shook his head and decided to ask later. "We're not surrendering anything to you," he said, raising his voice. "Not for freedom, or anything else."

Zarkon hummed. "Not even for your leader?" Keith's vision flashed red. "Where is he?" he yelled, over the others' outraged shouts. "What did you do to him?"

Zarkon looked up at him. "You discovered the clone, I see."

"Of course we did!" cried Pidge, conveniently failing to mention that this had taken place only hours before.

"Tell us where Shiro is, now," demanded Lance.

Haggar laughed.

The Galran emperor smiled. "I'll do better than that . . . I'll _show_ you."

The druids around him shot magical power into him. Jagged bolts of violet lightning leapt from Zarkon's fingers and struck Red, then shot through each of the other lions, striking the paladins. Keith choked on his own yell, dropping his knife as the screams and shouts from the others echoed through his helmet.

An image from Red flickered in his mind – she was going to eject him into the hangar to prevent him being injured. He struggled against Zarkon's attack, even as he tried to argue with Red; but she, with a mixed sensation of apology and determination, opened her mouth, and he collapsed on the hangar floor.

Immediately, he rolled onto his side and held out one hand with the intention of summoning his bayard. He was distracted, however, by Lance's shriek of astonishment. "SHIRO!"

The blue paladin was on his hands and knees a few meters away from Keith, pointing with an almost comical expression of shock on his face. Keith turned his head so fast that he pulled a muscle in his neck.

 _Two_ Shiros were in front of Black, one kneeling, hunched protectively over the other, who seemed to be unconscious. Keith's eyes widened. 'Clone' Shiro held the black bayard. It had transformed into a long, thin-bladed, lethal-looking sword, which he held in his prosthetic hand. His other hand rested against the floor next to the real Shiro's head.

On his other side, a little distance away, Pidge sat on the floor with her legs straight out in front of her, mouth slightly open. Hunk had crawled over to her and was peering over her shoulder, his jaw slack.

"Sh-shiro?" stammered Keith. Clone Shiro looked over at him, a look of almost wild fear in his dark eyes, then back at Zarkon.

"Uhh . . . Keith . . .?" Lance whispered. "What's going on?"

Keith blinked slowly and shook his head. "I – um . . ."

As one, the five lions sat upright, the light in their eyes vanishing as they powered down. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith saw Zarkon sway heavily.

"My lord, you are not strong enough," hissed Haggar, moving swiftly to his side. She cast a malevolent glare at the paladins, then at the Galran officers, who stood around uncertainly. "Restrain them!"

Keith gave his head another shake and stumbled to his feet, phantom pains shooting up and down his limbs from Zarkon's spell.  
Lance fired his gun from where he was, shooting at a large Galran male who was advancing on Pidge. His shaking hands made his shot go wild, hitting another officer in the arm. Pidge's bayard flashed as she wound it around the big Galran's ankles, then shocked him.

Hunk propped himself against Green's foreleg and fired a stream of shots at Zarkon and Haggar. The witch flung out a hand, summoning a forcefield of dark energy that absorbed his shots, but Hunk kept firing, leaving Lance and Pidge to take out the officers.

Clone Shiro jumped up, his eyes fixed on the druids supplying Zarkon with energy. Haggar cast one look at him; his eyes flashed gold, and he froze where he stood, the black bayard vanishing into his armor.

Keith sprinted forward and stabbed through the nearest druid's heart with one smooth motion. Ripping his sword out, he moved on to the next one, who heard him coming and ceased its spell, whirling to attack.

A moment later, Pidge ducked under Hunk's stream of lasers and joined Keith, standing back to back with him as he struggled to block the druid's swift claws. Pidge's bayard snapped forward, strangling the third druid, whose hands jerked up, reaching for the glowing green cord.

Only one druid remained to supply Zarkon with magic. Haggar snarled, occupied with controlling the clone and maintaining the shield against Hunk.

"My lord, you must stop," she warned, too late. Zarkon fell to one knee with a grunt, his eyes flickering and dimming.

Haggar shrieked. Her shield shot out in all directions, striking Pidge and Keith. Pidge's bayard kept her anchored to the druid she was attacking, but Keith was not so fortunate. Haggar's spell hit him just as his opponent finally landed a blow, and he was sent flying through the air to smack hard against the opposite wall. He dropped ten feet to the ground and landed on his side, then lay there, unable to do anything except to watch dimly as the battle unfolded before him.

Two officers grabbed Hunk, who only just managed to dematerialize his bayard in time to keep them from snatching it. A druid grasped Pidge by the elbows, lifting her from the ground and shocking her into unconsciousness when she kicked him. Lance performed a spectacular dive and shot another officer in mid-air, but stumbled upon landing. A huge Galra punched him in the side of the head, knocking him sprawling.

And Shiro . . . Shiro was sitting up, one hand gripping the other Shiro's arm for support, his mouth slightly open as he gazed between his clone and Haggar, as though trying to decide if what he was seeing was real.

"Shiro, look out!" yelled Hunk, jerking against his captors and dragging them forward a few paces.

Haggar smiled suddenly, and an overwhelming sense of trepidation washed over Keith; no matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn't move. He could only watch as Clone Shiro's eyes flared gold, and he twisted suddenly and locked an arm around Shiro's throat.

Shiro's eyes widened in panic and he struggled violently, but to no avail. The clone held him in place until two druids took over, grabbing his wrists and holding his arms out to either side of him. Then, to Keith's surprise, the taller of the druids placed one long hand on the back of the clone's neck and sent a jolt of magic through him. Shiro stared, uncomprehending, as the clone jerked and collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

Haggar's yellow eyes traveled over each of the paladins, resting for several moments on Shiro.

"Bring Champion and Project Kuron to my laboratory," she said. "Secure the others in the prison level."

The officers saluted. Two more druids entered and assisted Zarkon from the room, Haggar's slim form gliding along behind them. One of the Galra grabbed the clone, hefting him easily in his large arms, and the druids holding Shiro dragged him out. He jerked against them, casting quick, wide-eyed looks at the others. He caught sight of Pidge, limp in her captor's grasp, and turned to stare at Keith.

"What – Keith, what – where –?" He broke off, twisting and yanking against the druids. "Pidge –!"

One of the druids jerked his arm behind his back and twisted it until Shiro gasped and stopped struggling. Keith growled and tried to get up, but the floor was still tilting beneath his feet. The druids ignored him, dragging Shiro from the room without looking back.

Keith's mind was buzzing. They had – they _had –_ to get away and rescue Shiro, but . . .

Clawed hands scraped against his armor, pulling him upright. Keith didn't even try to get away, instead looking over at the other paladins. Pidge hung limply over an officer's shoulders; Hunk's hands were cuffed in front of him; and Lance was swaying dizzily, one hand pressed against his helmet.

"Move it, paladin," snapped the officer. Keith shot him a glare, but obeyed.


	5. Chapter 5

The Galra shoved Lance into a cell, then flung Pidge in after him. He held out his arms in an attempt to break her fall, but only succeeded in tumbling to the ground with her on top of him. Well, that was better than nothing, he supposed.

The blue paladin slid Pidge to one side and got up, his head throbbing heavily. Moving gingerly, he removed his helmet before peering out through the barred door. He performed a slight double-take and glanced at the door again.

Seriously? They were in an alien spaceship, with all sorts of cool tech, and the prison cells had barred doors?

Wow.

Lance peered across the hall, hoping to see where Hunk and Keith were, but the purple lights were so dim that he couldn't see anything except large blotches of shadow. He gave up and turned to survey the rest of the cell.

The back wall was solid, but the side walls were constructed of bars that reached from the ceiling to the metal floor. The cell to his left was empty, but in the cell to his right –

"There you are!" he said with relief, moving over.

Keith, who was slumped against the bars on his side of the cell, glanced up, moving only his eyes. "These cells keep us from using our bayards," he announced without preamble.

Lance blinked. Holding his hand out, he tried to summon his bayard, but, sure enough, nothing happened.

"Quiznak!" he muttered, snapping his fingers. "Stupid cell. . ."

"What do we do now, guys?" Hunk asked, rubbing the top of his head. "I tried contacting Coran, but it looks like our transmissions are blocked."

"I'll try to wake Pidge," Lance replied, suiting the action to the words. "Keith, buddy, do you have a brilliant escape planned yet?"  
The red paladin didn't answer. He folded his arms across his chest as he hunched over, frowning thoughtfully at nothing. Lance waited patiently for a whole three seconds, then said, "Uhh – hello?"

Keith glanced up. "What?"

Lance gestured around the room. "How do we get out?"

"I don't know."

". . . Oh."

Hunk propped his helmet on his knees and fiddled with some control or another. Lance placed a gentle hand on Pidge's back and shook her.

"Oh, Piiiiiidge," he said. "Time to wake up."

She groaned a little, squeezing her eyes even further shut, then lifted herself painfully to her hands and knees. Lance helped her to a sitting position against the wall and slid down beside her.

"Was . . . was that seriously Shiro?" she said.

"Yeah," Keith replied dully.

"Wait – where is he now?"

"Haggar has him," Lance told her. "And she's got Clone Shiro, too. And we can't access our bayards or contact Coran, so . . ."  
Pidge sat upright. "We can contact our lions!"

"Zarkon shut 'em down," said Keith. "I can't reach Red. Or Black."

The other three paladins remained silent for a moment, apparently trying to reach their own lions. Lance closed his eyes, trying to hear Blue or even Red in his mind, to no avail.

"Blast those stupid Galra!" Pidge snapped. "Are you telling me that we can't do anything except sit here and wait until they decide to let us out?"

Hunk shrugged hopelessly. "Guess so."

No one spoke for several long minutes. Lance attempted to find a comfortable position six different times before giving up and lying flat on his back, arms crossed behind his head. Hunk slouched next to Keith. Pidge adjusted her helmet controls and muttered under her breath.

Keith shifted so that he was looking at Lance. "So – what exactly is a purple people-eater?" he asked. 

A full hour later, a door slid open at the end of the prison hallway, admitting six Galra and two Druids – and a prisoner with a white streak of hair.

The paladins jumped to the doorways of their respective cells immediately, watching the approaching figures. Keith narrowed his eyes at the prisoner and realized that it was the clone.

Why was _he_ here? Surely Haggar didn't need to imprison him – she could control him at will. Maybe she just didn't want to make the effort right now?

The empty cell to the left of Lance's was opened, and the clone was shoved in with such force that he hit the back wall and rebounded. He leapt to his feet immediately, with a very Shiro-like movement, and lunged for the door, but a druid slammed it in his face, chuckling darkly behind his strange mask. "You will have a chance to fight later, Project Kuron."

No one spoke until the Galra and druids had left, but the minute the door shut behind them, Pidge and Lance hurried over to the bars that separated them from the clone.

"You okay?" asked Lance.

He nodded, but did not look up.

Keith clutched at the bars of his wall and pressed himself against them, gazing intently at the clone. "Where's Shiro? Did you see him?"

Clone Shiro paced back and forth a few times before suddenly whirling and slamming his fists against the wall with an enraged shout.

Lance and Pidge exchanged uncertain looks. Hunk moved to stand beside Keith, his hands fidgeting nervously. The red paladin stared at the clone, a hollow feeling in his chest that grew until it ached. The fact that he and the others had been fooled by a clone – no matter how much like Shiro he had looked – was bothering him more than it had when he first found out.

And where had the real Shiro come from?

Hunk's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What's wrong, Shiro?" He froze, realizing what he'd said, and stammered, "Sorry, I meant . . ."

The clone let out an almost wild laugh and sank to the ground, burying his head in his arms. " _That's_ what's wrong," he muttered.

"I'm not – I never was Shiro, and I thought I was this whole time." He glanced up at the others, his eyes flitting to each of them. " _You_ thought I was Shiro."

"It's not your fault," Lance said quickly. "How were you to know? I mean, you have his memories and everything."

"But – I knew something was different," the clone replied. "I would react sometimes in ways that didn't match my memories of my reactions – I mean, of Shiro's reactions."

"We noticed that, too," said Hunk. "But we never even suspected that you were a clone."

"Yeah," Pidge piped up. "I thought that maybe the differences were results of some new experiment or other of Haggar's."

The clone shook his head. "She's got your Shiro right now. I didn't hear much, but I do know she wants him to surrender his claim to the black lion."

Keith frowned. "We don't have 'claims' to the lions. _They_ chose _us._ "

"Zarkon was chosen before Shiro," said Lance thoughtfully.

"Exactly," said Pidge. "Remember what Allura said about our quintessence in relation to the lions? I mean, that's why Zarkon was able to keep taking over from Shiro at all."

"I don't really understand it," said the clone. "But Haggar's trying to make Shiro surrender his bond, and Zarkon's got the lions under his control right now. It's taking all his strength to do it, but –"

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry. If I'd realized that Haggar could control me so easily I"d never have come on this mission."

"But if you hadn't, all those people on Lycaa would've died," said Pidge.

"Yeah," agreed Hunk comfortingly. "And we wouldn't have found the real Shiro, either . . ." He scratched his head. "Wait, how come he was on Black, anyway? How'd that happen?"

The clone got to his feet and started pacing again. "I don't know exactly, but when Zarkon took control of the black lion, in the hangar, I had this weird feeling, kind of like I was in two places at once. I couldn't say anything; Haggar wouldn't let me . . ."

He shuddered visibly and shook his head. "Anyway, it seems that both Zarkon and Black had been trying to use the teleportation power when Shiro disappeared, and they'd accidentally formed a mind-link."

"Oh, I get it!" said Pidge, turning to face the others. "Both of their minds were involved in the bond when he disappeared, so Black couldn't reach Shiro unless she and Zarkon were both open to each other. It makes perfect sense!"

Keith – and judging by his face, Lance – diisagreed with this sentiment, but Hunk nodded. "So in other words, Zarkon accidentally helped bring Shiro back."

"Exactly," she answered. She pressed a finger to her lips, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"I think you're right," the clone said. "Black sensed where he was almost the moment Zarkon took over."

"And now Haggar has him," Pidge said.

Keith straightened up. "We have to get out of here and rescue him."

"Yeah, but how?" Lance asked, aiming a light kick at the barred door. "Hunk, you don't have a wrench or something in your armor, do you?"

"Where would I fit a wrench?" said Hunk, sounding bewildered.

Lance waved a hand. "Never mind. Seriously, though, does anyone have an idea? 'Cause I don't."

Keith gestured to the clone. "Your arm," he said. "Can you use it to cut through the bars?"

The prosthetic arm glowed purple and Clone Shiro strode over to his cell door and pressed against the latch. A violent flash blinded the paladins for an instant; when their vision cleared, they saw the clone, lying in the far corner of his cell, looking stunned.  
"Okay, that didn't work," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I – I think they put wards on the door," Hunk added, depressed. "Now what do we do?"

Keith had no answer. 

"My lord, Champion will never relinquish his bond with the black lion," Haggar said, standing before Zarkon.

The emperor's eyes were closed as he exerted his will, controlling the lions of Voltron, but at her words he let out a growl of displeasure. "I cannot force my bond any further," he told her. "There must be a way to . . . convince him. The other paladins, perhaps."

She gave her head a single shake. "It would take a long time to make Champion surrender, even using them. And you must be able to take over Voltron before your strength gives out."

Zarkon opened his eyes. "My strength will not last much longer. You must find another way."

"I think I have one, my lord." Haggar hesitated. "But I am not sure if it will be successful. Killing Champion directly will sever his bond too fast, and the lion may retreat into itself to keep from you, but if I were to drain his quintessence . . ."

The emperor hummed faintly. "Would it kill him?"

"Yes, but gradually."

"Do it, then. As quickly as possible." His eyes shut again. "I cannot hold them much longer."

Haggar bowed and glided from the room. 

Hunk glanced around at his friends. Their expressions were a strange mixture of depressed and angry – Clone Shiro's the most. He sighed. Well, he couldn't cheer them up, exactly, but maybe he could at least distract them a little.

"Hey," he said, waving at the clone. "What should we call you?"

Clone Shiro looked up, a little blankly. "Does it matter?"

"Yeah," Hunk nodded firmly. "We can't keep using 'Clone Shiro'. It's too long and besides, it's not accurate."

"Not accurate? I'm a _clone_ of _Shiro_."

Pidge cocked her head. "Not an exact clone, obviously. I agree with Hunk."

"Yep, totally," said Lance. "So, what do you think your name should be?"

"Well," said the clone slowly. "Haggar called me Project Kuron."

Lance snorted. "She has no taste."

The clone's half-bitter smile looked exactly like Shiro's.

Keith joined Hunk at the wall. "What about leaving out the 'project' part?"

"Kuron?" said Pidge. "I like that."

Lance and Hunk nodded, and the clone considered for a moment before turning to the others. "Kuron it is," he said, walking over to the cell wall and reaching through the bars to offer his hand to Pidge. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too," grinned Pidge. "Kuron, I'm Pidge, and these are my friends, Lance, Hunk and – Keith? What is it?"

The red paladin was staring at the bars in front of him. When Pidge spoke, he jerked upright and turned to Kuron. "Try cutting through the bars of the wall!" he said, gesturing. At the others' questioning glances, he continued. "Look. The druids must have added that protection spell _after_ they put Kuron in here. They'd have no reason to put it on any of the doors except his."

"Right!" yelled Lance excitedly. "And they probably didn't think of putting any sort of spell on the walls between cells!"

Kuron glanced between them once, took a quick breath, and activated his hand once more. This time, it sliced cleanly across the bars, leaving glowing spots of molten metal on each of the bars he touched.

Without hesitation, he made a second cut several feet below the first, and Pidge and Lance removed the bars quickly, allowing Kuron to climb through into their cell.

"It worked!" cheered Hunk, rather obviously. He waved his arms around in celebration, nearly clobbering Keith as the red paladin waited impatiently for Kuron to cut his way through the second set of bars. A few moments later, all five of the prisoners were standing in one group, in front of the door to Keith and Hunk's cell.

Kuron moved his hand to the lock a little gingerly, but when nothing happened he pressed his glowing fingers flat against it, melting through in a matter of seconds. The door swung free, clanging against the wall as the five of them scurried into the hall and peered cautiously around.

As they moved to the large door at the far end, Lance said, "I think we should take a moment to pay our respects to the druids' stupidity, without which we would never have escaped."

Pidge and Keith, predictably, rolled their eyes; Kuron chuckled a little; and Hunk said, "Uhh . . . okay?"

They broke through the large prison door without any trouble, then peered out into the hallway.

"Looks like sentries, mostly," said Pidge. "Just a sec, let me get this . . ." She typed rapidly on her wrist console and brought up a display. "Okay. I'm gonna search for Shiro's biosignature . . ."

Several faint beeps came from her miniature computer, and she entered another command. "Got him!" she whispered, jubilant. The others crowded around her, trying to see.

"We're really close," she said, pointing. "Down the hall – that way – and into the big room at the end." A frown creased her forehead. "Huh, that's weird . . ."

"What is it?" demanded Keith.

"No one's with him."


	6. Chapter 6

Shiro closed his eyes tightly, his head hurting so badly that his ears rang and a constant wave of vertigo assaulted him. He pressed his lips together, willing himself not to throw up right where he was.

Gradually the feeling passed, and the headache receded just enough that he felt able to open his eyes. The first thing he saw, through his blurred vision, was Haggar. The druid witch was adjusting some sort of control a few feet away from him. She slid a lever to the right, and for some reason his muscles seized up.

He swallowed a groan, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of hearing him, and glanced around. Where was he? . . . What was Haggar doing? . . . and where were the other paladins?

Glowing, pulsing wires wound about him, binding him to the pillar he stood against. Haggar made one final adjustment and turned to face him, sharp teeth gleaming in the purple light. Shiro expected her to start asking questions – after all, that's what she had been doing a few minutes ago – but she just stood there, smirking unpleasantly.

Shiro jerked against the frail-looking wires, but could scarcely move a centimeter in any direction.

"What do you want?" he gasped, surprised at how hoarse his voice was.

Haggar lowered her head, her strangely marked hood falling forward over her face, and smiled even more. "The emperor has ordered me to drain your quintessence."

Shiro went very still, then began to struggle harder against his bonds.

"You will survive longer if you stand still," she informed him calmly, her eyes turning back to the controls.

A door hissed open to admit another druid, who glided over to Haggar, head bent submissively. "Lord Zarkon requires your assistance," he said in the strange voice that all the druids seemed to share. "We cannot give him the power he needs to control the lions."

Haggar moved swiftly, barely looking at Shiro as she left, the druid right behind her. Shiro stared at the door as it clicked shut. Why was Zarkon trying to control the lions? . . . Disjointed memories suddenly fell into place, and he pulled against the wires again. The others were here – Pidge, Keith, Lance, Hunk – and a clone of himself. Kuron, Haggar had called him.

Shiro thought it was strange that he had apparently been 'missing' for so long. He remembered fighting Zarkon; he remembered the bayard; he remembered Zarkon's spell; and then he remembered nothing but emptiness. He must have passed out – but surely it couldn't have been longer than a few minutes.

And yet, when Haggar's attention was elsewhere, the clone had hastily whispered to him the happenings of the past few months. Surely he had no reason to lie – and the other paladins had been shocked to see him, that was for certain.

A strange feeling of weakness spread through Shiro, and he stopped moving abruptly, glancing over at the controls. One small light was blinking rapidly, becoming dimmer and dimmer as though it were running out of power.

Without warning, the blinking stopped. The wires around Shiro pulsed once, then glowed even brighter, the purple light casting odd shadows around Haggar's laboratory. A horrible sensation of _emptiness_ started in Shiro's chest, right where his heart was, and spread slowly outward. It hurt in a way nothing else ever had – and yet the pain wasn't physical, exactly.

Shiro gritted his teeth and caught his breath, activating his prosthetic arm in the hopes of cutting through these wires. The arm sizzled against his bonds, but did not sever them. The hollow feeling grew, and he shut his eyes, drawing short, hissing breaths through his teeth.

The door slid open again, and he heard several people rush in.

"Shiro! Oh, quiznak!"

 _Lance . . .?  
_  
Shiro opened his eyes to see the paladins – and the clone – all clustered around him, looking extremely worried. Keith was reaching out as though to touch him, but then he hesitated. "Pidge? Can we move these wires without hurting him?" "The wires _are_ hurting him!" Lance exclaimed, waving one arm around wildly, but the clone caught his wrist.

"Wait," he said, frowning a little. "I think . . ."

Hunk bent over the controls while Pidge typed several codes into her wrist console, one after the other. They peered at the results together, then exchanged grim looks.

Shiro's wanted to speak, to reassure the others, but he couldn't concentrate on anything but the quickly growing hollowness inside. His vision grew black around the edges, and he tried to focus on breathing slowly. Keith shot him a worried look, his dark eyes glinting oddly in the purple glow.

"Pidge!" he snapped. "What did you find?"

"It's not good," she replied, turning to face him. "Haggar's draining his quintessence, and she's got it set up so that if we remove the wires, it'll kill him instantly. I'm trying to find a way around it, but I don't know enough about quintessence to be one hundred percent sure."

"Do what you can," he replied immediately. "Hunk, you help her. Lance, Kuron, keep watch at the door. Shiro? Can you hear me?"

Shiro nodded once.

"Do you have any ideas that'll help us? Did Haggar say anything?"

He thought for a moment, then gave his head a slight shake.

"We don't have a lot of time," Pidge warned. "Anything, Hunk?"

"He's getting weaker by the second," Hunk reported, worry evident in his tone. He glanced at another readout and grimaced. "Uh, it looks like only a druid can access this at all."

Resolve hardened Keith's face. "Then we need a druid," he said, and stalked towards the door, summoning his bayard.

Shiro wanted to stop him, but he could barely move now. He watched helplessly as Keith neared the door -

– And Kuron stepped into his path, stopping him short. "No," he said softly. "It's too dangerous."

Keith tried to shove past him, but Kuron's prosthetic arm tightened around his wrist. "There's another way," he murmured, a look of profound sadness over his features. "I – my quintessence . . ."

Lance and Keith looked at him, then turned questioningly to Pidge. She nodded slowly. "It might work, but – Kuron –"

The clone pushed past the others and moved over to Shiro. Moving smoothly, he took one of the wires that bound Shiro's left arm, slipped it off, and wound it around his own left arm.

The hollow sensation faded slightly, and Shiro's vision cleared a little. Pidge checked the controls while the others waited, holding their breaths.

"It worked," she said, then hesitated. "Kuron, are you – are you sure you want to do this?"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" asked Keith. "It's working, isn't it?"

"It'll free Shiro, but kill Kuron," she replied grimly. "But if we wait a little, I might be able to find another way . . ."

Kuron gripped another wire. "I'll need your help with this," he replied, his voice almost gentle, but at the same time, very determined.

Shiro pulled away. "No," he half-whispered. "We'll find another way."

"No, you won't," said Kuron. "Because there _is_ no other way."

Hunk sniffed loudly. "I – I think he's right, guys."

Everyone stared at the clone, eyes wide. Lance opened his mouth, but Kuron interrupted him.

"Now," he said, sounding very much like Shiro when he was in his 'training mode'. "One of you help me with this. I'm doing it either way."

Keith made up his mind in an instant. "Pidge, keep looking. Try to find something – anything," he ordered. He and Lance moved over to help Kuron, despite Shiro's continued protests.

Within a few moments, they had transferred all but two of the wires to Kuron, who slumped against the pillar, breathing heavily. Shiro, leaning against Lance for support, suddenly pushed Keith's hand away from the large wire around his neck.

"No, wait," he ordered. "We're – we're sharing the spell now – it might – slow it down enough . . ."

Kuron opened his eyes. "You need to get out of here, all of you," he said.

"Nope," said Lance. "We need to stay here until both you and Shiro are safe."

"But Haggar –"

"We're not leaving," said Keith stubbornly.

Silence fell for the next few minutes, broken only by Pidge and Hunk's intermittent whispering and typing and Kuron's unsteady breaths. Keith had just decided – again – to go out in search of a druid when the door slid open and Haggar stepped into the room.  
She froze for an instant, her mouth opened slightly in shock, then stretched one hand towards Kuron.

But that instant of hesitation was all Kuron had needed.

Just as his eyes began to glow yellow, he ripped the last two wires from Shiro and pressed them against his neck with his hands. He smiled as he crumpled to the ground, too weak now to obey Haggar's orders.

The witch screamed with rage and flung a blast of lightning in Kuron and Shiro's direction. Lance and Keith intercepted it at the same moment, crashing into each other as they dove into the lightning's path from opposite directions.

Shiro crawled towards them as Haggar snarled, but stopped short as an image from Black flashed in his mind. The lions were free – free from Zarkon's control the moment Shiro had been freed from the spell, and they were coming for their paladins.

Haggar seemed to sense this too, because her yellow eyes widened and she advanced rapidly, only to be brought to an abrupt and unexpected halt as Pidge's bayard lashed around her knees and flung her to the ground.

Keith staggered to his feet and pointed his bayard at Haggar's neck. "Turn off your spell, now," he ordered, glancing at Kuron.  
She sneered at him and vanished in a whirl of black smoke. Keith stared at the place where she had been, then turned back to Shiro, who was slumped on the ground, barely conscious.

"What do we do now?" Lance asked, staring worriedly at Kuron.

The clone shifted on the ground, opening his eyes to gaze at them. He took a deep breath, then spoke in an almost normal tone of voice. "Get out of here before she – comes back."

"Nope, no way," said Lance.

"We can't leave you here with her!" added Pidge, her fingers flying over her wrist console. "There _must_ be away, there must . . ." She broke off with a despairing gesture, staring at Haggar's controls.

Kuron shook his head. Hunk was crying openly, and Keith looked more grim than usual. His eyes softened as he met Kuron's gaze, and he muttered, "How can we ever thank you?"

"Get – out of here." He smiled again and added, almost as though he were quoting, "Save the universe." His voice grew softer. "The plans of evil will always fail in the end, but many sacrifices must be made by the good before . . . that happens." His eyes drifted shut, but he opened them to glance over the paladins one last time, a kind of triumphant joy in his gaze. "And – in the end – Haggar couldn't control me. I made . . . the choice."

He met Shiro's eyes as the black paladin stirred from his position against Hunk. Kuron held out one hand, summoning the black bayard, and the lights on Shiro's armor gleamed as Kuron sent the bayard to his armor. "Take care . . . of the others," he whispered. The light left his eyes, and his head sank to the floor, a faint smile still on his face. 


	7. Chapter 7

Louding clanking sounded in the hall outside, and Keith whipped out his own bayard, his eyes so hot that they looked to be smoldering. "Hunk, get Shiro!" he yelled, and sprinted for the door, Pidge and Lance on his heels.

Keith burst into the hallway, his sword slicing through four droids in as many seconds. Pidge's bayard flashed in and out of the huge group of enemies, neatly avoiding Keith as he darted among the metallic adversaries. Lance stood at the doorway, firing so rapidly that the lasers appeared to blur together.

Hunk came into view, half-carrying Shiro, who was stumbling along, Haggar's spell still affecting him severely. Lance stopped shooting, grabbing Shiro from the other side, and they all raced for the prison cells, knowing instinctively that their lions were heading there.

Keith and Pidge led the group, clearing a path for the others; they worked together with such seamless coordination that they looked to be in a choreographed fight. Keith ducked smoothly beneath the crackling green line of Pidge's bayard to stab another droid; she withdrew it and fired again, landing it in a third droid that was aiming its gun at Keith's back.

They burst into the prison level hallway to find that Keith's lion had melted a large hole in the side of one wall. Scrambling through it, they found all five lions in a circle in a large room, their mouths open, ready for the paladins to enter.

Lance helped Shiro into Black and made sure that he was at least sitting in a half-upright position before he sprinted for his own lion. Hunk slammed Yellow into the outer wall of the super-cruiser, breaking a hole in it with almost insulting ease. Black took off on her own, and the other four lions flanked her. Through the ringing in his ears, Keith heard Pidge calling Coran, heard Coran say that he was already on his way and would arrive in, "Two doboshes!"

The red paladin kept his eyes fixed on Black as the five lions streaked away from the super-cruiser. He leaned forward in his seat as though that would help Red fly faster, trying not to think about the tractor beam . . . a bit further . . . almost there . . .

"We're out of range," announced Pidge. "And – it doesn't look like they're following us."

"They're too weak," gasped Shiro. "Zarkon's retreating."

Lance let out a sigh of relief so loud that it caused a shrill burst of feedback in the others' helmets.  
"Ow, Lance!" Pidge yelped.

"Oops." Lance grin showed that he was not at all contrite. Just as quickly, however, his smile faded and he said, "Shiro?"

"I'm here," the black paladin said unsteadily. "I'm just – I think Kuron's memories got mixed up with mine when he switched the wires like that . . . Keith, you left Voltron? And Allura's a paladin?"

Lance interrupted before Keith could reply. "Keith left for a while. And Allura _was_ a paladin," he said easily. "But I think she's happy to be back in charge of the Castle of Lions. At least, that's what Blue says."

"Yeah, we're all back to normal now," said Hunk. "Just like when we started this whole save-the-universe thing."

"And we're going to keep it that way," said Pidge. "Aren't we, Keith?"

Before the red paladin could do more than blink in surprise, Pidge continued speaking. "Oh, Shiro! I found Matt!"

Shiro smiled a little for the first time since they'd found him. "I know. I'll be glad to see him," he told her.  
"He's with Allura, they're talking to Lotor," she chattered on. "I don't know how that's going, but I'm sure we'll hear soon enough. . . And – uhh –"

At this point, she seemed to run out of things to say, because her voice faded away and she stared at the panel before her.

Keith was still considering her last question to him. "Pidge, I –"

"Oh, yeah!" she interrupted. "That's what I was going to say!"

He tried again. "Pidge –"

"Shiro, what was the mindscape like? Can you remember?"

Keith gritted his teeth. "Pidge, can you –?"

"And there's Coran!" she said loudly, pointing. "We're almost there."

"PIDGE!"

She jumped. "What?"

Keith stared at her. "Are you trying to keep me from answering the question you asked?"

She fidgeted.

"Wow," said Lance, raising an eyebrow. "Guess you're not quite as oblivious as you seem."

Keith sent a half-hearted glare at the screen.

"Of course," Lance continued, "it did take you a lot longer than it would have taken me, but –"

"Now _you're_ doing it!" yelled Keith. "Why won't you just let me answer the stupid question?"

Hunk glanced at him. "Maybe, uh, because they don't want to hear the answer. . .?"

Keith let out his breath with a huff. He heard a faint laugh and looked up to see Shiro smirking.

"So, Keith," he said conversationally. "How is it, being the leader?"

Keith shook his head. "I'm glad you're back, Shiro."

"Me, too," the black paladin said. "Now, everyone listen up. Be quiet and let Keith answer the question."  
"You're only saying that because you know the answer," muttered Keith.

Shiro looked coolly at him. "Hmm. Well, now I want to hear you say it."

"Augh, _fine!_ " he growled, slamming his knife down next to him. "I'm not leaving Voltron, guys. Okay? Are you satisfied?"

"Yep, thanks," said Lance. "Ya'know, I've kind of missed having you around to bother. Teasing Hunk and Pidge just isn't the same." He paused. "Well, Pidge is pretty fun to tease, but she needs to work on better retorts and . . ."

"Well, maybe if you gave me better examples I'd have better retorts," Pidge snipped back. "And besides, I've missed working with you, Keith." An evil smirk crossed her face. "Did you guys see how well we beat those droids?"

"Yeah, that was epic," said Hunk, a dreamy look entering his eyes. "It was just like – one, two! Wham!"

Lance snorted with laughter. "And Haggar's face when you got her with your bayard, Pidge – oh, man, that was _good_! Wish we'd gotten that on camera . . ."

Everyone, even Shiro, laughed. 

It was several vargas later that the paladins stood around the bridge, watching Coran as the advisor spoke to princess Allura, telling her what had happened.

Matt let out a surprised squawk upon hearing the news. "A clone? He was a _clone_? Haggar is such a – such a –"

Allura interrupted him, though her own voice was trembling slightly with surpressed fury. "Coran, please continue."

Shiro turned to the other paladins as Coran continued speaking in the background. "Thank you all for rescuing me," he said.

Lance waved dismissively. "Anytime you want," he said. "We sort of do it for a living now."

Hunk grinned, then sighed. "I wish we could have saved Kuron, though . . ."

"Me too," Pidge added sadly.

"Yeah," said Keith and Lance.

Shiro tilted his head thoughtfully. "So do I, in one way – but – Kuron actually preferred dying the way he did."

He smiled a little at the other's surprised expressions. "No, he didn't _want_ to die. But don't forget – Haggar could control him at will, and either way, he would have died in that ship . . . Either fighting her or being forced to fight us. If you had to make that choice, what would you do?"

"The same thing he did," said Lance slowly. "Yeah, you're right."

"Then I guess – I guess it turned out the best way it could," said Pidge, giving Shiro a half-hopeful look.  
Hunk nodded. "And – I don't know, but I _think_ Kuron was happy, at the end."

"Yeah," said Keith shortly, turning away. "He was - and he deserved to be." 


End file.
